Body and Soul
"Body and Soul" is the 37th episode of Once Upon a Virus, as well as its fourth season's premiere. Summary A single bot has found its way into the confines of Storywik, Maine... but that's all it takes in order for utter Tumblr to break loose. Meanwhile, Josh calls Rena in to help with something magical, Justine struggles with her newly discovered pregnancy, Joanna's first date with Rachel ends in bedlam and Joe and Liz remain faced with the former's adoptive parents - and ex-girlfriend. The bot is on a mission, and its candidate for a permanent host could end in heartbreak. Plot The bot continues to soar through Storywik's night time, looking like a cross between shadow and lightning, making its way past such landmarks as the sheriff's station, The Sword and Hammer, the mayoral office… eventually, it comes up to a sketchy-looking bar by the name of Cybertonics. Inside, Matthewvp09 (or rather Matthew van Persie, as he's known in this land) is doing the usual of chatting up some former witch who used to work under Joanna's employ at the hospital; she still has her nurse's uniform on beneath her jacket. "So," he says finally, once the nurse has a few drinks inside her, "Shall we take this party… outside?" She smiles provocatively. The two of them are next seen walking out into the alleyway around the back of Cybertonics, and they soon start making out passionately. The bot, meanwhile, flies into this alley, and the nurse gasps in shock when she witnesses it force its way down her would-be lover's throat. "What's going on?" she asks, confused, as Matthew is left crouched on the ground, now possessed. She leans down curiously, but when Matthew looks up she screams – his lips, the ones which were just a few seconds ago pressing against hers, are now black, as are the veins which cover his face. The nurse screams and then Matthew pounces, using his hands to compress her throat against the brick of the alley wall. She struggles but soon loses her strength, and then Matthew starts clawing. Her throat is bleeding, and then he sticks a thumb in her eye and bursts it, laughing as he does so. Eventually, there is nothing but a bloody mess left in the possessed Matthew's wake. The bot smiles within its current host and says in an incredibly eerie tone, "I forgot how much fun it was to kill stuff… and with none of my brothers and sisters around to covet all the fun… I can do that to whomever I damn well want." The bot then vacates Matthew's body and flies away, exploring Storywik further. Joe and Liz continue to be faced with Mike and Gabrielle Kahn, the two of them having just rolled into town in search of their adoptive son. "How did you find me…?" Joe asks, in shock and denial; he turns to Liz and whispers, "Are they… really here?" "Yes…" she says, equally confused, "Who are they?" "Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of us not to introduce ourselves," Gabrielle realizes. "We're his parents, " Mike adds. Joe scoffs, "Some parents; I was lucky growing up to see the sun outside my basement!" "We put a roof over your head, didn't we?!" Gabrielle yells, to which Joe retorts, "You put a floor over my head! God, you better leave right now before I…" "Before you what, son?" ("Don't call me that") Mike wonders, "Before you steal our money… our car..." "Force us to move into a one-storey house!... One storey!" Gabrielle practically weeps with rage. "You're going down for what you did," Mike assures, "Just you watch." He takes his cell phone from out of his pocket and dials 911. Once he's done so… Liz's cell phone begins ringing from within her own pocket, and she's suddenly reminded that she's the one and only law enforcer in this town. "You're a policewoman?" Gabrielle questions as Liz hangs up. "Sorta…" Liz utters. "Well then arrest this man! He's a thief!" Joe's "mother" screams. "Um… alright," Liz tells them, grabbing the handcuffs from around the back of her belt. She grabs Joe's arms and begins to secure them as his adoptive parents look on with grins on their faces. "What are you doing?" Joe whispers to his girlfriend. "Don't worry," she whispers in reply, "I have an idea." She then says more loudly, "You have the right to remain silent." Early in the morning, Rena is seen pulling up beside the town line where Josh is waiting patiently for him. "You rang?" Rena says as he steps out of his vehicle, and Josh nods, saying that he needs his help. "With what?" "With magic," the mayor reveals, surprising his old nemesis who wants an explanation. "I want to restore the town barrier once and for all; I don't want anything else to get in or out, but, to do this… well, it requires a lot. So will you help me?" "Sure," Rena nods, and Josh uses his magic to make a spell book appear in his hand out of black smoke. He opens it to a specific page and guides Rena through the obscure language it's written in, making sure that each of them says the right words as they raise their hands to the real world, working their magic across the edges of Storywik. Soon enough, the mystical barrier is reinstated yet again. Rena steps forwards to make sure of this and, sure enough, the air ripples around his hand as he outstretches it. "Alright," he declares, turning to his father-in-law, "It's done." "Thank you," Josh nods. "So um… Justine did this with you last time…" Rena recalls (see "Out of Bounds"), "Why didn't you call her in?" "I did, first," Josh admits, "But she wasn't picking up… is she okay?" "I guess…" Rena tells him, "I mean, she seemed kind of mopey when I left, but… maybe that's just another side-effect of being brought back to life." "Yeah," says Josh, "Maybe." Over at her apartment, Justine sits in the bathroom with yet another pregnancy test in tow, wanting to make sure that the first one was accurate. She waits the appropriate amount of time and is met with yet another little plus sign, assuring her that there's definitely a baby growing in her womb. She finds herself crying. Meanwhile, Rena enters the apartment and calls out for his wife, wondering if she maybe wants to go to dinner later. He eventually finds her in the bedroom ensuite, where she has quickly thrown the pregnancy test into the nearby trash can, trying to act as naturally as she can while sitting atop a closed toilet. "What's wrong?" he asks, noticing the tears in her eyes, and she just sighs, fishing the pregnancy test out of the trash can and showing it to him. "Is that…?" he utters. "Yep," says Justine, "I'm pregnant." Rena's face conveys shock, but then a massive smile as he exclaims, "Well that's great! Why are you upset?" "I… what if… what if I'm not cut out to be a mother…" "That's ridiculous," Rena assures her, taking her by the hand and bringing her to her feet so that he may kiss her, "You'll be wonderful." He then tries to move away from such a topic by asking how far along she is, and she finds herself sitting back down and uttering, "Oh, my God…" "What? What is it?" "When I… when I died… when I… sacrificed myself (see "Life's Blood")… I was pregnant… I… I… I killed our baby!" she cries profusely, "I am a terrible mother!" Rena is sympathetic. In their bedroom at the local Bed & Breakfast, Gabrielle and Mike are being talked to by Liz, who is busy assuring them that Joe is rotting in a cell as they speak. Joe, meanwhile, is eavesdropping from the next room over – one designated to Emma Seer, who sits on her bed watching as he does this. "Okay, good," Joe reports, "She's convincing them to leave town." "So what's so bad about these guys?" Emma wonders, "Didn't they adopt you?" "Except they didn't want a child, they wanted a new check they could cash very month," Joe explains, and Emma nods. He sighs and walks over to the bed, sitting down beside her. "So…" she decides to inquire, "Do you still do archery?" "Sure," Joe nods, "I wielded a bow and arrow as I went up against… your mother, your grandfather, my grandmother…" "Wow," she comments, "Sounds like you've been through some stuff. Not just with all that but with…" she nods to the wall, "…''them''." "Yeah," Joe confirms, "Things have been… difficult. I envy you. Leading a normal life and all." "Oh, I've led anything but," she assures. "What does that mean?" Joe wonders. "It doesn't matter," she says quickly, "My friendship with you was probably the best time of my life." She stares at him, into his eyes, and there's clearly a lingering romantic tension – one which is interrupted by Liz. She walks into the room and pauses for a moment, before telling her boyfriend that his parents are all taken care of. They think he's all locked up and so they're ready to leave town tomorrow… with their car and money back. Joe looks saddened by this, getting up off Emma's bed and wondering what he's supposed to do without any money. "Well that's okay, I still have a job," Liz says. "What do you mean?" Joe wonders. "Well… I've been meaning to ask you… if you would maybe want to move in to my apartment?" Joe smiles and walks up to her, giving her a kiss which she says shall be taken as a "yes". Emma looks at them and an awkward atmosphere washes through the room; the three of them are left there in a sudden silence. "So…" says Joe, trying to break it, "Are you thinking of talking to your mother?" Emma shrugs. A photograph of Joanna rests on Selena's kitchen counter as she cries, lamenting the fact that her mentor killed her (see "All Tumblr Breaks Loose"). "Oh, what's the point? What's the point?!" she weeps, opening up her cutlery drawer and taking out a spoon. She slides the metal against her wrist multiple times, but nothing happens, to her annoyance. She throws the spoon across the room and soon comes across a plastic knife. She shrugs and tries slashing herself with this instead. However, the moment she applies the tiniest amount of pressure, the knife snaps and part of the plastic flies up and hits her in the eye. She cries even more, rubbing said eye and making it red and bloodshot, and she blows her nose on some kitchen roll. She makes her way into her bathroom and opens up the drug cabinet where only a single bottle of pills awaits her. She pops off the top and swallows the entirety of the contents. "It's okay…" she utters, slamming the bottle down into the sink, "It'll all be over soon…" But then she takes a closer look at the bottle, and realizes that she just downed a whole load of sugar pills. "Dammit!" she screeches, storming through the rest of her house. Eventually, she finds some rope, and after Googling how to tie a noose, she fastens one end to a ceiling beam, standing on a chair as she does so. Soon enough, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, kicking the chair from beneath her feet and… collapsing to the floor in a heap. The rope wasn't properly tied to the ceiling beam, and now DavidTennantismyAngel has split her lip on the chair she kicked over, having smacked her face against it when she fell. She manages to sit up, and pulls out yet another photograph of DeviousPeep (they're darted all around the house). More crying ensues as she utters Joanna's names. Joanna, meanwhile, is sat in a restaurant on her first date with Dlrgirl75, who sits across from her happily. A bottle of wine is served to the table, and Joanna thanks the waiter before assuring him that they can pour it themselves, popping the cork and giving herself a glassful. She then passes the bottle to Dlrgirl, who accidentally knocks her wineglass off the table. "Oh, damn!" she exclaims, leaning down to pick it up; the edge is chipped. "I'll get the waiter back, get you a new glass," Joanna promises, but Dlr tells her not to bother because she can just use this one; "It's only a chip." She pours herself some wine and tells her date that she's glad they did this, and Joanna agrees. "We seem to be very powerful together," Peep recalls. "Maybe we should cast a spell sometime," Dlr smiles, "I can't even begin to tell you what a relief it is to be free of that damn lamp, and to have my magic back. For so long I've been Dlrgirl75, the genie, but now I'm finally Rachel again, the witch." "I'll toast to that," Joanna says, raising her glass, and Rachel clinks her chipped one against it, before they both sip. "So," Peep recalls, "You have visions of the future, right? Can you tell me anything about mine?" "Oh I don't need magic to see your future," Rachel says, winking. Joanna laughs and wonders if Rachel has a surname, but she reveals that she doesn't because they weren't really a "thing" back before she was a genie. As the two of them get to know each other, Selena strolls past and sees them through the window of Megabites. She appears enraged, thinking that her old mentor has taken on a new protégée, and then… she's spotted. The bot wisps its way around the corner and likes the look of David, sensing magic within her. As it moves in to possess the suicidal witch, however, it sees Rachel through the window and smashes its way through. Those in the restaurant scream, and Rachel appears terribly afraid as the bot forces its way down her throat. Her lips and veins turn black, and Joanna gets up from behind the flipped-over table, watching in shock. "A bot… but they're all gone… imprisoned…" "All but one," Rachel tells her, "And this body… such potential for power inside, and what's this? The power of premonition?" Suddenly, a vision overcomes her and she smiles as it happens. "Oh, but this is glorious!" she exclaims, "The future… my future…" "Get out of her!" Joanna orders, flaring up red lightning in her palm. "Oh, sweetie, for as long as I'm inside her, I am her. Oh, and she's had some naughty thoughts about you. I can see each and every one of them. But don't worry, dollface… I got bigger fish to fry." The bot vacates Rachel and flees the restaurant, now with a clear mission in tow. Rachel, meanwhile, collapses to the ground and is caught by Joanna, who asks if she's okay. Rachel simply stirs and response, and Joanna sighs with relief, saying that she thought the bot would never leave; "And if it had decided to stay in you, well… after it's been inside a host for twenty-four hours then it's stuck there forever. Are you sure you're okay?" "No…" Rachel utters, trying to wave her hand over her now bruised ankle, "My magic… I… I can't do magic!" Tears fill her eyes. Justine, with Rena at her side, is being scanned by local physician Dr. Strange, who assures her that she's definitely pregnant but that the baby, at least for now, appears to be perfectly healthy, even if it is just a blob of cells. "Good…" Lady utters, "Now all I have to do is… not kill myself." "You have nothing to feel guilty about," Rena assures her, and she nods, wiping her tears. "I'll, um… I'll give you two some privacy," Dr. Strange tells them, exiting the room, and Justine tells her husband that maybe the baby is healthy now… but she's done this before; "I can carry a baby inside of me but what about when it gets out! I've never held one for longer than a minute! I have no idea how to be a mother!" She is breathing heavily and Rena tries calming her down, thinking it ill-advised to panic. "How can I not?" Justine says hoarsely. "You are an excellent mother to Joe," Rena assures. "Sure, now! Now that he's the same age as us!" "It doesn't matter how late it is," her husband continues, "Everyone has to start somewhere. And you will love this baby…" he places a hand on her belly, "…more than anything in the world. I promise. Besides… it doesn't matter because we'll be tackling this whole parenthood thing the same way we tackle everything else… together." She smiles, taking deep breaths and nodding, and the two of them exchange a comforting kiss. DavidTennantismyAngel is crying her way down the street, and the loose bot once again sets its sights on her. As she opens her mouth to cry out, the bot pounces, holding her mouth open and climbing inside, forcing her to swallow as it latches itself to the edge of her soul. Her lips turn black and dark veins fill her face. "I like this… magic touch," Selena says, zapping a nearby fire hydrant and making it so that water sprays up from underground. She laughs manically. Joe is seen moving a box of his things into Liz's apartment, and the two of them share a kiss. "So…" says Joe, "With the Kahns taken care of… and no current crisis to worry about… what do you say we… check out the sleeping arrangements?" Liz smiles at this, kissing him more passionately, but then a loud crash is heard from outside and Joe sighs, saying that he spoke too soon. The two of them run to the window to see what it was and are shocked to see Selena using her magic to cause mayhem in the streets below, having just smashed a whole bunch of windows. Mike and Gabrielle make their way into the sheriff's station, wanting to gloat to Joe before they finally leave town. However, they are surprised to discover that the cells are empty, and Gabrielle finds herself screeching, "That ginger bitch lied to us!" Liz and Joe run outside in order to stop Selena, with Joe having just phoned Josh and his parents via cell phone in order to gain some added help. "Yay!" David exclaims, "What a nice turnout!" Liz takes her gun from her holster and warns the rampant witch to stop whatever it is she's doing… but she just laughs. She flares up some magic in her hand and prepares to throw it at ImmaGleek, who prevents this by shooting her in the hand. Selena is angry now, and allows her lips and veins to show. The bot inside of her allows her to heal fast, and then Josh appears in a flurry of black smoke with his scythe in tow. Rena and Lady are watching from afar, with the former staying well in front of the latter for protection, and then the bot exits Selena and goes into Josh. "Speaking of the magic touch!" Reginafan2626 exclaims, "This one's loaded with it!" he swings his scythe and laughs, and Joe and Liz realize what's happened. "When we returned from the past, we…" "We brought a bot with us," Liz finishes for her boyfriend. "Indeed," Josh yells, flaring up a fireball in his hand and throwing it at them. They have to duck in order t avoid it and he laughs. The bot then goes from him to Rena, and he turns to Justine with the features of the thing inside him. "Pregnant, eh?" he whispers, "I never did like babies…" He flares up another fireball and holds it close to her belly. She begins to cry, shocked, and Josh quickly whacks Rena around the head with the butt of his scythe. He isn't harmed but he is knocked sideways, and then Joanna comes running at him and sends red lightning surging through his body. "What are you doing here?" Josh wonders. "It's a bot," she says, "I saw it earlier." "But they're all… stashed away," the Evil Bureaucrat recalls. "Apparently n—" Joanna cannot finish her sentence because the bot has now possessed her. She tackles Josh's scythe away from him and goes running towards Joe and Liz, picking up the former by the scruff of his shirt with her heightened strength. "You…" she utters, "You're the one." "You're gonna possess me?" Joe wonders, his legs dangling above the ground. "Oh no, my dear… I wouldn't dream of it," she promises. Suddenly Joanna is shot in the side by Liz, causing her to drop Joe before the sheriff tackles her to the ground. The bullet is barely a scratch to her and soon the wound is gone. The two women continue to brawl on the floor, and then the bot crosses bodies. Liz, now possessed, lifts Joanna up and throws her through a nearby window where she lands next to Selena. "I like this body…" ImmaGleek utters, "There's no magic, but… she's so athletic. She knows how to wield a sword, she can tell when someone's sneaking up behind her...." this said, she punches Josh in the face and causes his nose to bleed uncontrollably as he falls to the ground. Rena is once again padding around his wife in an effort to protect her. "Why I could stay in this body forever…" Liz continues. "Don't," Joe is heard beginning, and Liz looks down to see that he's down on his knees, "Please… not her…" "That's right, this one's important to you!" Liz laughs. "Possess me instead…" Joe cries, "Anyone but her, please!" "Aw, but I like Liz!" she exclaims, "Besides, I already said that I wouldn't dream of inhabiting you." "Why not?" "Well, you're the one who gave me purpose. I possessed this little former genie witch, and she gave me a glorious vision of the future. I saw you, surrounded by ruins. Not just of Storywik… you're going to ruin the world, Joseph Kahn. Or rather, Jdg98 is. Oh, you should've seen the destruction, it was… it was like fine art, you know? So beautiful… such chaos… my kind of land. So that's why I can't possess you. It's my job to free you!" "You can't…" Joe continues to weep. "Oh, but I can," Liz assures, "You see, most bots go about their lives without any purpose but destruction. But me? I get to free the Messiah! I'll be seein' ya', Joe." She starts to walk away and Joe collapses further. As Liz leaves the site of the destruction, an arrow is fired in her direction and her increased reflexes allow for her to catch it. She turns – black lips, black veins – to see that Emma Seer is the culprit. The beautiful blonde is wielding Joe's bow and staring Liz down, having just witnessed everything. Shoving the arrow in her belt, Liz does a series of impressive flips along the ground before she's standing at Emma's side. "Liz doesn't like you," she warns, "You might wanna watch your back." A few somersaults later and Liz is gone. The Kahns, meanwhile, have just seen everything from around the corner of a building. "What the hell is this place…?" Mike questions. 24 Hours Later Joe is sitting at the bar of The Sword and Hammer and his father serves him a free drink, appearing sympathetic for his son's current plight. Rachel then enters and approaches her friend. "Hi," she says solemnly, sitting at the stool next to him. "Did you hear what happened?" Joe asks. "I did," the former genie nods, "And I'm sorry." "It's been twenty-four hours since she was possessed… according to Joanna that means it's permanent. There's no getting her back now…" Rachel places a hand on his shoulder, and goes on to say, "You know, I had that thing inside of me, and… it really rocked me. My magic, having just returned, was pretty unstable and now, after it forced me to have a premonition, I… can't seem to use it." "I'm sorry," Joe tells her, "You come to drown your sorrows as well?" "Not exactly," says Dlr, "I have something I need to show you." Joe appears curious. The two of them are next seen upstairs in Tiago's apartment, and Joe wonders what it is that's so urgent. Rachel explains that even after her magic stopped working, there was this one vision of the future that kept bleeding its way through, and she really thinks he needs to see it. "Can you do that?" Joe wonders, "Just share visions?" "With some help I can… I need you to read my mind. Like what you said you did with Mary." (see "The Savior") "I'm not sure if I can…" says Joe, but Rachel promises to help, wanting to see if she can muster up any dregs of power she might have left in order to do this. "Ready?" she asks, "And concentrate." The two of them place their hands on either side of one another's heads, focusing deeply. Soon enough… Joe is witnessing a vision of the future. He sees himself, looking rugged and war-torn. He is carrying something in his right hand… a golden staff with crystals embedded in the end of it, some white, some black. His parents are beside him, in the streets of what appears to be a heavily-bombarded Storywik, and Justine tells her son that it's time; "You can end this!" Joe nods, readying the staff, and then the vision reveals that they're standing before Josh. He is dressed in the same clothes often seen adorning him as the Evil Bureaucrat, and his scythe stands strongly in his hand. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks. "Deadly," Joe assures, and Josh flashes an eerie smile. With his spare arm, he flays his hand towards Rena and Justine, and the two of them scream as they're reduced to mere atoms. Joe watches in shock, tears welling up in his eyes as he witnesses the deaths of his parents. Reginafan2626 laughs manically as this occurs. In the present, Joe stands across from Dlrgirl75, entirely shocked at the vision she has just shown him. Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes Category:Season Premieres